Recovery of Agri-Food By-Products in France

By-products from French agri-food industries totaled 12.1 million tonnes of dry matter in 2017, up 2 Mt from 2008. ADEME defines by-products as materials generated during production, intended for a distinct use, falling between product and waste in the circular economy. Key valorisation routes include animal feed (≈75% of fruit and vegetable processing by-products), transformation into bioplastics and construction materials, energy recovery via methanisation (over 1,175 sites in France by 2022), and agricultural use as fertilisers through composting and spreading. Data from the 2017 Réféda survey and MéthaFrance highlight the growing role of by-product recovery in achieving circular economy goals.